Poll: Iceland Refuses EU Referendum Despite Mass Support

Despite a poll on Friday showing more than 80 percent support for a referendum on joining the European Union, the Icelandic government still planned to abandon membership talks with the bloc.

Less than a third (32.1 percent) of Icelanders surveyed backed the government's decision, according to the poll by market research institute MMR, published in Frettabladid newspaper. More than two-thirds (67.9 percent) said they want to put the process on hold.

But perhaps most alarming for the governing center-right coalition was the whopping 81.6 percent who said they want a referendum on whether to continue negotiations on EU membership.

A mere 18.4 percent were not in favor of a referendum.

On February 21, the government announced a draft bill to "retract the application for membership of the European Union" which the island nation had submitted in 2010 -- reneging on a previous pledge to hold a referendum on the issue.

Although a majority of Icelanders are opposed to ultimately joining the EU, they want it decided in a referendum.

The government's u-turn has brought thousands of pro-EU protesters onto the streets of the capital Reykjavik and led to a petition signed by 40,500 -- one in six voters -- as of Friday afternoon.

But the government has shown no sign of wavering.

After nearly a week of political wrangling it presented the bill aimed at exiting EU talks to parliament late Thursday.

A debate on the bill began Thursday night, but was later suspended for a scheduled parliamentary recess, and is expected to continue on March 10.

Iceland is a member of the European Economic Area and the Schengen Convention -- which allow free trade and movement within the EU -- but fishing has been a major point of contention standing in the way of EU membership.

The topic was not brought up in accession negotiations which began in June 2011.

The Nordic country's relations with Brussels deteriorated in September when the EU threatened trade sanctions if Iceland did not reduce its mackerel quota, and Iceland announced it was pulling out of accession talks indefinitely.

Pro-EU Icelanders see the adoption of the euro as the main advantage of membership, which they believe would help stabilize the island's economy which was rocked by the financial crisis in 2008-2009.